Mid-sized employers receive insurance reprieve from White House

Long-term care providers with between 50 and 99 employees received an unexpected reprieve yesterday, as the Obama administration announced it would give them an extra year before having to offer health insurance.

It also was announced that larger employers, defined as those with more than 100 employees, can avoid a fine by offering coverage to 70% of full-time employees in 2015 and 95% by 2016.

Companies with fewer than 50 employees were already exempt from having to offer health insurance. Full-time is defined as employees who work at least 30 hours a week.

The final regulations were to be published Monday by the Treasury Department.

About 60,000 elderly or disabled Medicaid recipients in Louisiana are being told they should expect to lose their benefits in July, and advocates say more than a quarter of them could be forced out of the long-term care facilities they call home.